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Earlier this year, I finally applied for my first ever passport and as such, am now seeking to take a break comprising the standardised clich©s of sun, sea and sand. My travel agency recommended 3 locations that are popular with tourists to me Antigua, Dubai and the Maldives and whilst researching these options, I came across a guide detailing the famous exports of each area which I found to be fairly interesting.

Antigua:

Only around 30% of Antigua’s land is capable of wielding crops and around 18% of this land is in use. Of the few crops grown, sea-island cotton and a minimal amount of cane sugar is reaped and exported annually. Vegetables are also grown but these are generally only sold on market stalls on the island. Although most fishing occurs to benifit locals only, the exportation of lobsters is on the up.

The delicious rum you will no doubt guzzle down during your Antigua holidays is popular with the rest of the world too it is one of Antigua’s most sucessful exports after all!

Dubai:

The trade in Dubai had for too long been centralised on the oil that was found there back in 1966. Dubai exports various kinds of goods from electricals to garments to food and acts as the central distribution hub for the more richer areas of the Middle East. It is important to note that these goods are not made in the city but rather, are exported to Dubai before being re-exported by the city.

The tourism industry and Dubai holidays are also central to the city’s income.

Maldives:

The largest export of the Maldives is fish, which is usually processed and canned. Yellowfin tuna is caught using line and pole in order to protect adjacent dolphins.

Almost all other foods need to be imported into the Maldives because nothing can grow in the infertile atolls, apart from coconut palms. This can mean Maldives holidays quite expensive and this is why all-inclusive packages are the best idea, particularly if you plan on drinking a lot of alcohol during your break.

While considering Antigua holidays and longing for the sun and the sand, you might forget that holidaymakers are not the only animals found there. In fact, the flora and fauna of many tourist traps are often ignored. Read on in order to find out what you’re missing (please try to keep the petting to a minimum).

Antigua

Antigua is most famous for its birdlife. The Antillean crested hummingbird, affectionately known as “Doctor Brushy”, is fond of using cobwebs to build its nest and due to its high rate of metabolism must feed constantly throughout the day. Other common avian sights include cattle egrets, Carib grackles, brown pelicans, grey kingbirds and the adorably named little blue heron.

Dubai

Dubai’s desert is host to a wide variety of creatures that you may well see on any Dubai holidays you may have the privilege of going on. The oryx, mistaken for a unicorn in the past due to its appearance in profile, is perhaps one of its most famous herbivores. Among Dubai’s more carnivorous creatures are striped hyenas, the Fennec fox and the caracal.

The Maldives

Maldives holidays are sure to have you in contact with the sea at some point, which is where the majority of the place’s most famous wildlife is. Turtles, moray eels and stingrays (these, interestingly, nurturing their young in the womb via uterine milk instead of a placenta following the using up of their yolk sac) are all often seen. The Maldives are also home to whale sharks, a large but peaceful creature that feeds off plankton by filtering sea water through its gills and “coughing” up anything untoward.

Often when on Dubai holidays, or indeed any holiday, local culture is not necessarily high up on your list of things to investigate. Folklore and mythology play a big part in all cultures, and they have been studied and enjoyed by both scholars and the general public alike ever since they first existed. Here follow a few of the more interesting ones from some of the world’s most popular holiday destinations.

Dubai

The striped hyena is a native of Dubai’s deserts, mythologically infamous across the world. Typically seen as symbols of treachery, stupidity and evil, they were said to be incarnations of demons as well as sharing traits of both vampires (sucking blood from people’s necks at night) and werewolves (the Greeks believed that improperly destroyed werewolves would rise again and haunt battlefields drinking the blood of dying soldiers). They are said to be ridden by witches or magicians at night by the Baluch and inhabitants of northern India. Striped hyenas have also been associated with love and fertility, the latter in particular resulting in their various body parts being used in traditional love medicines.

Antigua

Antigua holidays reveal a rather different kind of folklore. An interesting custom is the antlion charm. Known as “jampeepee” (or “John-pee-pee”) by the locals, the insect is summoned by reciting a chant (“Jam-pee-pee! Jam-pee-pee! Mammy call you for funjee and saltfish”) and gently trailing a stick around the edge of its pit. Apparently this is in order to announcing the sharing the national dish with the antlion, recalling its noble history feeding Antigua’s ancestors.

The Maldives

Most Maldivian mythology and folktales revolve around the islands’ origins, particularly the introduction of the all important coconut tree and tuna fish. The latter was allegedly made when a mighty sorcerer made coconut trees grows out of the skulls of the corpses of the first Maldivian settlers, while the tuna fish was said to have been brought to local waters by a brave mythical seafarer named Bodu Niyami Kalefanu. These certainly make Maldives holidays more interesting!